Getting our main binder ready for next year

I've spent the past few days getting our school binder ready to go. I'm hoping to have it all put together by the end of the day (or at least completely laid out). I've also set up an account on 4shared (username is HyperCello) to share any things that I create myself for our schooling. I decided to test it out by uploading a file I created to keep track of what we needed to get for each month (since most of the books we're going to be using will be coming from the library). I hope this file will be useful to somebody. Please let me know if you download it and find a use for it. :-)

Monthly Items Needed Excel File

Next Year's Science

Wow, it's been over a month since I've posted, but we've been busy getting school done this year (we finished up last week with OHVA. Everything is boxed up and ready to be shipped back, and we have our last conference of the year this afternoon.) I've been very lucky the past few weeks to get some books free, and I've been going through them and seeing what I'm going to use for next year. I think I have our science books down, so now I just have to plan what we're doing out of them. :-) All the books I have state that they are for kids over eight, but I think Dalton will understand them alright.

203 Icy, Freezing, Frosty, Cool, and Wild Experiments by Janice VanCleave

175 More Science Experiments to Amuse and Amaze Your Friends by Terry Cash, Steve Parker, and Barbara Taylor

Science Crafts for Kids by Gwen Diehn and Terry Krautwurst (this one looks like it might be a bit too advanced for Dalton, but I might be able to pull out one or two things from it.

I'm sure we'll pull science from other areas (Dalton loves watching Beakman's World), and I would like to use some of the nature studies from Shining Dawn Books since I fell in love with them when I saw them at the homeschool convention. I have a feeling science next year is going to be very hands-on (and FUN!).

Letter of intent has been written!!

After looking at various letters written by other homeschoolers, I think I have my letter of intent written! How does it look? Of course, I've left off certain aspects of the letter, but this is a big chunk of it.

This letter is to notify you that I will be home educating my child, Dalton (D.O.B.:), for the 2011-2012 school year.

I assure you that I will provide a minimum of 900 hours of education in the following topics: language arts, reading, spelling, writing, geography, history of the United States and Ohio, national, state, and local government, mathematics, science, health, physical education, fine arts, including music; and first aid, safety & fire prevention.

The instructional resources we will use shall include, but are not limited to: books and periodicals borrowed from the library; purchased books; other purchased or borrowed instructional materials, such as audio and video tapes, DVDs or compact discs; computer software; appropriate educational internet resources; radio and television programming; community-based classes and private instruction in specific subjects.

I also assure you that I have at least a high school diploma and that I will be the person teaching my child the subjects set forth in the paragraphs above.

Thank you for your courtesy and time. I look forward to receiving an excuse from compulsory attendance for the purpose of home education.

School calendar has been finalized!

Yesterday I went through and made our school calendar. Since I'm not using any real textbooks, I decided I needed to figure out what our schedule looked like so I could see how many lessons I would need to plan.

Our Schedule for 2012-2013 school year

• School starts on Sept. 6, 2011
• School ends on June 7, 2012

Holidays we'll be taking off:

• Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
• Thanksgiving (Nov. 24-25)
• Christmas (Dec. 22-Jan. 2)
• MLK Day (Jan. 16)--will use this day as a "catch-up" day if needed
• Presidents Day (Feb. 20)
• Spring Break (Apr. 2-9)
• Memorial Day (May 28)

I'm also including a few days in our schedule to be used as "catch-up days" if we find we need them.

• Sept. 30
• Oct. 28
• Dec. 16
• Feb. 17
• Mar. 16
• Apr. 20
• May 18

This puts us in school for 178 days (public schools are in session for 180 days). I know we don't have to count days, just assure the state that we'll be getting 900 hours in during the school year. I know, I'm prolly over-thinking this all and doing so much more work than I need to, but I feel like I really need to be prepared (since being prepared helps me feel like I'm more in control).

Looking more and more like a reality

Well, I really think we're going through with doing a traditional homeschool next year. It's exciting, but scary at the same time. I took David (and Dalton) out to a teacher store yesterday, and you would have thought it was Christmas! David had no idea what kinds of resources we had available to us. We ended up getting a Social Studies book from the Mailbox that we will be using to plan out our Social Studies curriculum. He also got a poster about the Declaration of Independence (because it was a clearance item). :) Dalton also got a tornado tube (he's wanted to make a tornado for a while, but our attempts didn't meet with favorable results....). I also spent the evening figuring out how we would set up our schedule, and designing a lesson plan book that would cover each subject. Now, I know we'll have overlap in a lot of subjects, but I needed to lay it all out so that I knew that we weren't missing anything. I know, it's the over-planner in me. :) So, here's an overview of what our schedule is going to look like next year. The things highlighted in yellow are what David teaches. We have to have 900 hours for the school year, and the way I have it planned, we'll reach that no problems. I'm also building in "catch up Fridays" into the schedule every four weeks or so to allow us a day to catch up if we need it (if we don't need it, we'll consider it a free day).

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!I've decided to start this blog to help me in my quest to find an affordable way to homeschool my son, Dalton. We've been using a virtual academy this school year (OHVA--Ohio Virtual Academy), but after attending the homeschoolers convention in downtown Cincinnati this past weekend, I really feel that I can offer my son an education that is tailored to him. So, over the next few months, I'll be researching what is out there and seeing if I can build a curriculum that will work for us (and not break the bank!!). I hope my ramblings on this blog will be useful to others who are also taking the leap. :)